Fall at LOW: A Midwest Cast and Blast Nirvana
September and October are great months in the Midwest, especially if you like to hunt and fish. Often times, the areas that are the best for hunting and fishing are distances apart. There is a very special area, however, that offers both world class hunting and fishing all on the same trip. This place…Lake of the Woods.
Let’s start with the fishing. There are so many options for fantastic fall fishing. As the water cools on the lake and on the Rainy River, the walleyes really start to put on the feed bag. With millions of walleyes and a healthy population of trophies, charter boats are having their way with the fish.
For some, it makes sense to book a charter. It is easy. These resorts and guides are on fish, have the big boats, the right equipment and some even offer a delicious shore lunch.
The other option is to bring your own boat. Resort owners and bait shops are very generous in providing good info to get you started in the right direction.
Fall is a time when a variety of techniques will work. Anchored up and jigging with a frozen shiner is by far the most common and many days, the most effective. There is something about watching the migration of waterfowl take place throughout the day while setting the hook on walleyes and saugers. Very special.
A nice bonus while jigging for walleyes in the fall are the jumbo perch. Jumbos up to 15” are often swimming the same waters as the walleyes and are absolutely massive. They call them “humpbacks” as there is actually a big hump behind their head due to the massive size of their bodies.
Many anglers are still trolling cranks. Walleyes will inhale a crankbait well into the late fall. With the fish bulking up for the winter, larger cranks are often the baits of choice for the monster walleyes in the system.
I recall a fall trip on the Rainy River that opened my mind a bit. I was jigging and catching plenty of fish when two boats came trolling by with IA licenses on their boat. While we exchanged pleasantries, I kidded around and said that the water was too cold for a walleye to eat a crank. They knew where I was going with this and mentioned they had pulled a 28” and 29” walleye in the last hour. This was a tradition for the group every year and it was because of the massive walleyes they catch.
Lake of the Woods is also known for big fall muskies. With so much water and few anglers, this is a great time to see a lot of fish and potentially boat a monster over 50”. Most anglers will stay at a NW Angle resort and fish the adjacent islands both on the MN side and Ontario side as they are only a stone’s throw away. With over 14,000 islands, muskie nuts keep very busy.
Very strong numbers of smallmouth bass, pike and crappies also are on the prowl if you want a break from the norm. These fish are often overlooked and folks that go after them typically do very well. The pike and bass can be caught all over the lake, whereas the crappies are more prevalent fishing out of the NW Angle amongst the islands.
Hunting! So much of the time, fishing is the conversation around the lake, but hunting is incredible. The one fact to really appreciate is the thousands of acres of public land. The areas around Lake of the Woods are loaded with public hunting opportunities and very few hunters. Right off the bat compared to many other areas, this is a win.
Grouse Hunting. Based on what you like to hunt, there are so many opportunities. Let’s talk grouse. The area features three species, ruffed, spruce and sharp tailed. Some hunters like the challenge of trying to achieve the triple header all in the same day.
Maps of the area can be accessed online at the MN DNR or Lake of the Woods Tourism. Beltrami Island State Forest is a great place to start. It has a myriad of dirt roads, ATV trails and designated walking trails, perfect for grouse hunting.
The Ruffed Grouse Society and MN DNR have worked together to create some wonderful walking trails throughout Beltrami Island State Forest. A nice parking area, signage at the head of the trail and a wonderful trail amongst prime grouse habitat that loops around back to your parked vehicle.
Waterfowl hunting. There is a nice migration of ducks and geese that comes right through this country. The birds use the lake and follow it south.
For the diver ducks, there is plenty of open water with adjacent bays for food. For the puddle ducks, shoreline areas of wild rice, reeds, and other aquatic vegetation with few people make it ideal.
Key spots for duck hunting include various bays of the lake and river. Up at the Angle, around the many islands can be excellent hunting. Setting up decoys on a point amongst the flyways leads to some memorable shoots.
On a recent south shore hunt, a few of us simply hit 4 Mile Bay at the mouth of the Rainy River. We landed our 16’ aluminum boat at the Wheeler’s Point Landing before light. After we set up decoys in the bay close to a reed patch, we hid in our boat floating in the reeds. A great shoot was had with many divers coming through. Thousands of divers were rafted on the north end of Big Traverse Bay and small groups would break off and make their way across the water, over Pine Island to the bay. We left at 10:00am and birds were still flying. As these ducks fly fast, let’s not talk about the many missed shots!
Goose hunters often hunt the thousands of acres of crops and fields just off of the lake on the south end. Field hunting with decoys is easiest working through one of our resorts and guides as much of this land is farmed and is private.
As geese have to have water, they are constantly flying back and forth. With a bit of scouting, many public water opportunities exist.
Big game hunting is all around. Deer and bears are the most common big game species. When the laws allow, wolves are prevalent as well. All three animals are very abundant in the area and can be targeted through a guide or through your own efforts.
In speaking with some bow hunters at Beltrami Island State Forest, they were passing on a lot of deer waiting for a north woods big buck. They are out there and every year, some monsters are harvested.
Up at the Angle, some deer hunters work through the NW Angle resorts and hunt the many islands in Ontario waters. With the proper Ontario licenses, thousands of islands are at your calling. Monster bucks live on these islands as there is less pressure from predators. This type of hunting requires a boat to island hop and typically is very successful.
The fall is a outdoors person’s paradise in the Midwest. When you add world class fishing and so many hunting opportunities in the same location, I think they call this “Nirvana”.
